Section 132p. 132

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME I

international cooperation for the over-all development of

all countries, especially developing States, and with a view

to ensuring:

(a) the development of the resources of the Area;

(b)

orderly,

safe

and

rational

management

of

the

resources of the Area, including the efficient conduct of

activities in the Area and, in accordance with sound

principles of conservation, the avoidance of unnecessary

waste;

(c) the expansion of opportunities for participation in

such activities consistent in particular with articles 144

and 148;

(d) participation in revenues by the Authority and the

transfer of technology to the Enterprise and developing

States as provided for in this Convention;

(e) increased availability of the minerals derived from the

Area as needed in conjunction with minerals derived

from other sources, to ensure supplies to consumers of

such minerals;

(f) the promotion of just and stable prices remunerative

to producers and fair to consumers for minerals derived

both from the Area and from other sources, and the

promotion of long-term equilibrium between supply and

demand;

(g)

the enhancement of opportunities for all States

Parties, irrespective of their social and economic systems

or

geographical

location,

to

participate

in

the

development

of the resources of the Area and the

prevention of monopolization of activities in the Area;

(h) the protection of developing countries from adverse

effects on their economies or on their export earnings

resulting from a reduction in the price of an affected

mineral, or in the volume of exports of that mineral, to the

extent that such reduction is caused by activities in the

Area, as provided in article 151;

(i) the development of the common heritage for the

benefit of mankind as a whole; and

(j) conditions of access to markets for the imports of

minerals produced from the resources of the Area and for

imports of commodities produced from such minerals

shall not be more favourable than the most favourable

applied to imports from other sources.

Article 151. Production policies

1. (a) Without prejudice to the objectives set forth in

article

150

and

for

the

purpose

of

implementing

subparagraph (h) of that article, the Authority, acting

through existing forums or such new arrangements or

agreements

as

may

be

appropriate,

in

which

all

interested

parties,

including

both

producers

and

consumers, participate, shall take measures necessary to

promote the growth, efficiency and stability of markets

for

those

commodities produced from the minerals

derived

from

the

Area,

at

prices

remunerative

to

producers and fair to consumers. All States Parties shall

cooperate to this end.

(b) The Authority shall have the right to participate in any

commodity conference dealing with those commodities

and

in

which

all

interested

parties

including

both

producers and consumers participate. The Authority shall

have the right to become a party to any arrangement or

agreement

resulting

from

such

conferences.

Participation of the Authority in any organs established

under those arrangements or agreements shall be in

respect of production in the Area and in accordance with

the relevant rules of those organs.

(c) The Authority shall carry out its obligations under the

arrangements

or

agreements

referred

to

in

this

paragraph in a manner which assures a uniform and

non-discriminatory

implementation

in

respect

of

all

production in the Area of the minerals concerned. In

doing so, the Authority shall act in a manner consistent

with the terms of existing contracts and approved plans

of work of the Enterprise.

2. (a) During the interim period specified in paragraph 3,

commercial production shall not be undertaken pursuant

to an approved plan of work until the operator has

applied

for

and

has

been

issued

a

production

authorization

by

the

Authority.

Such

production

authorizations may not be applied for or issued more

than five years prior to the planned commencement of

commercial production under the plan of work unless,

having

regard

to

the nature and timing of project

development, the rules, regulations and procedures of

the Authority prescribe another period.

(b) In the application for the production authorization, the

operator

shall

specify

the annual quantity of nickel

expected to be recovered under the approved plan of

work.

The

application

shall

include

a

schedule

of

expenditures to be made by the operator after he has

received

the

authorization

which

are

reasonably

calculated to allow him to begin commercial production

on the date planned.

(c) For the purposes of subparagraphs (a) and (b), the

Authority

shall

establish

appropriate

performance

requirements in accordance with Annex III, article 17.

(d) The Authority shall issue a production authorization

for the level of production applied for unless the sum of

that level and the levels already authorized exceeds the

nickel

production

ceiling,

as

calculated

pursuant to

paragraph 4 in the year of issuance of the authorization,

during any year of planned production falling within the

interim period.

(e)

When

issued,

the

production

authorization

and

approved application shall become a part of the approved

plan of work.

(f)

If

the

operator's

application

for

a

production

authorization is denied pursuant to subparagraph (d), the

operator may apply again to the Authority at any time.

3. The interim period shall begin five years prior to 1

January of the year in which the earliest commercial

production is planned to commence under an approved

plan of work. If the earliest commercial production is

delayed

beyond

the

year

originally

planned,

the

beginning of the interim period and the production

ceiling originally calculated shall be adjusted accordingly.

The interim period shall last 25 years or until the end of

the Review Conference referred to in article 155 or until

the day when such new arrangements or agreements as

are referred to in paragraph 1 enter into force, whichever

is earliest. The Authority shall resume the power provided

in this article for the remainder of the interim period if the

said

arrangements

or

agreements

should

lapse

or

become ineffective for any reason whatsoever.

4. (a) The production ceiling for any year of the interim

period shall be the sum of:

(i) the difference between the trend line values for nickel

consumption, as calculated pursuant to subparagraph

(b), for the year immediately prior to the year of the

earliest commercial production and the year immediately

prior to the commencement of the interim period; and

(ii) sixty per cent of the difference between the trend line

values for nickel consumption, as calculated pursuant to

subparagraph (b), for the year for which the production

authorization

is

being

applied

for

and

the

year

immediately prior to the year of the earliest commercial

production.

(b) For the purposes of subparagraph (a):

(i)

trend

line values used for computing the nickel

production

ceiling

shall

be

those

annual

nickel

consumption values on a trend line computed during the

year in which a production authorization is issued. The

trend line shall be derived from a linear regression of the

logarithms of actual nickel consumption for the most

recent 15-year period for which such data are available,

© Compiled by RGL

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